By Linda Conner Lambeck

WESTPORT — What started out last fall as an exercise to bring Westport schools’ student discipline policy in line with statutory changes has morphed into a complete review of how discipline is meted out.

After parents and students came forward this school year to criticize school officials’ handling of a number of protected class harassment cases — involving religion and race — the board’s Policy Committee, headed by board member Kevin Christie, ended up reviewing the entire document.

What resulted is a list of 59 separate infractions students might commit and a host of potential consequences based on factors such as grade level and how often the offense has occurred.

The rules allow for some administrative judgment depending on circumstances, but Supt. of Schools Thomas Scarice said the idea is to make the process predictive.

Student privacy laws prohibit public disclosure of exactly what consequences specific student rule breakers face, but Scarice said the Student Discipline Policy and accompanying Code of Conduct should inform the public what misbehaviors result in specific consequences. 

Here is the draft version of the Student Discipline Policy, and click here for the draft version of the Code of Conduct.

“We want consistency,” the superintendent told the board when it heard the first official reading of the policies last week.

It takes at least two readings before the board can take action.

Once approved, the hope is that the new Code of Conduct will take effect in September.

Christie pointed out, however, that the full board has yet to discuss many of the topics raised in the proposed documents, particularly issues that relate to students being targeted online or in person because of their race or religion.

Parents and some students have spoken out since late last year, contending that problems with racism and antisemitism in local schools are not being addressed appropriately. 

Read about some of those reports by clicking here, here and here.

Scarice challenged those claims last week, telling the school board he has met with or reached out to all of the parents who have come to the board to express concerns and that offending students have faced punishments.

Student misconduct, Scarice said, affects a small fraction of Westport’s 5,400 students.

The Code of Conduct, a document the administration creates to implement the Student Discipline Policy, generally does require the school board’s approval.

However, given recent events, Scarice is recommending the revised code get the board’s stamp of approval this time in the interest of transparency.

Proposals scrutinized by board

 In drafting the document, Christie said the committee sought to make the policy equitable and to put safety first.

The policy talks about how incidents should be handled, how stakeholders should be notified and how students who commit an offense should be educated about what they have done wrong.

There are still questions about whether parents should be informed same day, or within 24 hours about an incident involving their child.

“I am in favor of same day notification,” board member Jill Dillon said. “If my kid does something jerky in class, I want to be able to talk about it [when they get home].”

“We appreciate the point of sharing with parents as soon as we can. We also want to ensure we have enough information to share with parents before making that phone call,” Christie said.

Both Mike Rizzo and John Bayers, assistant school superintendents, told the board a same day notification is the goal, but could be impossible if a principal is dealing with multiple issues simultaneously.

Another sticking point is whether students who commit certain violations should forfeit extracurricular activities and leadership positions beyond the initial consequence, such as a suspension.

That is a penalty that aggrieved parents want to see.

“We are an educational organization,” said Rizzo. “We are not here to take things away from students.”

Board Vice Chair Dorie Hordon agreed, saying it’s one thing to bar a student from participating in a sport or activity while suspended, but to strip titles permanently seemed backward to her.

Dillon pointed out that students should learn that some behaviors could result in the loss of a job as adults.

“Kids don’t appreciate that,” she said.

Bad behavior has consequences

Conduct that could get students in trouble, according to the policy, ranges from possession of a cell phone in violation of school rules, to cheating, using obscene language, stealing, assaulting someone, bringing a weapon to school, bullying and hate-based conduct directed toward individuals based on such things as race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation or a disability.

Violation of the student dress policy could range from a warning to a Saturday detention.

Copying someone else’s work could get a student an F for the marking period.

Participation in a walk-out or sit-in could result in up to five days in suspension from classes.

For harassing a person in one of the protected categories, punishments range from up to a five-day suspension to expulsion.

Selling drugs on campus could include possible referral to police. So, too, could acts of hate-based conduct, such as threats and reprisal against those who report such incidents.

The code also addresses the district’s commitment to restorative practices, a concept where students learn from their mistakes and take steps to repair relationships.

Restorative practices

Starting in 2025, the state requires all public school districts to adopt a restorative-practice model to address challenging behavior and student conflicts.

Westport has been working on the model for some time, sending two teachers for training so they can train others. The idea is to help students manage conflict and develop a sense of accountability and responsibility for their actions.

The result is a better school climate, according to Scarice, and improved academic performance.

Restorative practices can range from impromptu conversations to in-class “circles” to get everyone focused on a lesson, to voluntary private conferences between individuals involved in an incident.

When it involves the Code of Conduct, the restorative effort is in addition to whatever disciplinary consequence the student may face, the board was told.

Staples teachers Kayla Iannetta and Nicole Giuliani, who received the restorative-practice training, told the board that implementing the practices could lead to better relationships between students and teachers, fewer disciplinary issues, fewer expulsions and suspensions, and a reduction in the disproportionate referrals of minority students.

During voluntary conferences students can be asked questions such as: What happened? What were you thinking? Who has been affected by what you have done? What do you need to do to make things right?

The meeting is scripted, and students can choose to leave at any point, said Iannetta.

Parents respond

Parents at the board meeting last week said the restorative-practice initiative is only as good as the fidelity with which it is implemented.

Tara Welch, who has reported a number of bias incidents involving her biracial sons, said fully implementing the restorative-justice model could take three to five years.

“We don’t have that much time,” she said.

She and others also do not like that proposed process would not be mandatory for offenders.

“How can we ensure this is done without bias?” asked Mary Patel, another parent. “When it’s not, who is held accountable?”

Welch said the Code of Conduct also does not address helping the children who are victims of misconduct.

In a subsequent email, concerned parents said the loss of privileges for high school and middle school students who harass others in protected categories should be enforced until they have had time to reflect and demonstrate goodwill.

It should also be listed as a consequence in the Code of Conduct, they said.

“The Codes of Conduct we’ve reviewed permit students to train with their teams, but restrict their involvement in competitions and performances for a portion of the season, depending on the seriousness of the infraction and whether it’s a first or second offense,” the concerned parents said in an email to the Westport Journal.

Having the loss of privileges tied only to the days of a student’s suspension, they said, is insufficient.

The parents also advocate allowing code violations to be reported anonymously to protect students from retribution.

The parents this week launched a website encouraging parents to sign a petition advocating that the Board of Education adopt rules with more robust loss of privileges for student violators and to allow complaints to be reported anonymously.

Freelance writer Linda Conner Lambeck, a reporter for more than four decades at the Connecticut Post and other Hearst publications, is a member of the Education Writers Association.